Rugby Championship: All Blacks v Argentina at Hamilton - What you need to know

03/09/2022

All Blacks v Argentina

When: Saturday, September 3, 7:05pm kick off.

Where: FMG Stadium, Hamilton

Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)

Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Jordan Way (Australia)

TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

TAB betting odds:

All Blacks - $1.20 Argentina - $4.50

Weather forecast: Cloudy with a high chance of rain. Moderate breeze. Expected 13 degrees celsius at kickoff.

Team line-ups:

All Blacks: 1-Ethan de Groot, 2-Samisoni Taukei'aho, 3-Tyrel Lomax, 4-Sam Whitelock, 5-Scott Barrett, 6-Shannon Frizell, 7-Sam Cane (c), 8-Ardie Savea, 9-Aaron Smith, 10-Richie Mo'unga, 11-Caleb Clarke, 12-David Havili, 13-Rieko Ioane, 14-Will Jordan, 15-Jordie Barrett

Reserves: 16-Dane Coles, 17-George Bower, 18-Fletcher Newell, 19-Brodie Retallick, 20-Dalton Papali'i, 21-Finlay Christie, 22-Beauden Barrett, 23-Quinn Tupaea

Argentina: 1-Thomas Gallo, 2-Julian Montoya (c), 3-Joel Sclavi, 4-Guido Petti, 5-Tomas Lavanini, 6-Santiago Grondona, 7-Marcos Kremer, 8-Pablo Matera, 9-Tomas Cubelli, 10-Santiago Carreras, 11-Santiago Cordero, 12-Matias Orlando, 13-Matias Moroni, 14-Emiliano Boffelli, 15-Juan Cruz Mallia

Reserves: 16-Santiago Socino, 17-Mayco Vivas, 18-Eduardo Bello, 19-Matias Alemanno, 20-Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21-Gonzalo Bertranou, 22-Benjamin Urdapilleta, 23-Lucio Cinti

All Blacks captain Sam Cane. Photo credit: Getty Images

Having suffered their first ever defeat to Argentina on home soil last week, the defending champion All Blacks are third on the Rugby Championship table behind the leading Pumas and Australia.

Defeat in Hamilton would imperil their title defence and heap further pressure on Foster and staff, despite strong endorsement from NZ Rugby after a review last month.

The only changes to the All Blacks team are on the bench. Beauden Barrett, who missed Christchurch with a neck injury, replaces Stephen Perofeta on the bench, while Brodie Retallick replaces Tupou Vaa'i, after recovering from a broken cheekbone from the series-deciding loss to Ireland in July.

Foster said he needed better from his team in the last quarter, after their disappointing fade-out in Christchurch.

Pumas players celebrate their win at Christchurch. Photo credit: Getty Images

"I think there's enough evidence that we're getting there in many parts of our game but it's just (about) growing that confidence when we get into the tail-end of the game," he said.

"It's an area that great All Black teams have always been good in that last 15 minutes, of backing themselves and doing the right thing."

Argentina have taken the wooden spoon in eight of their nine previous seasons in the Rugby Championship but are top of the table heading into this weekend's second test, after recording their first-ever win on NZ soil last weekend.

That may or may not last beyond Saturday but Cheika - who has made four changes to his starting XV - is in any case firmly focused on building for next year's World Cup.

"On the way to the World Cup, which is what we're planning for obviously, we've talked about trying to get some firsts to mark our own belief and self-confidence," Cheika said on Thursday.